Woman Says All Girls Should Live In The Moment This Summer With A ‘No Shower Happy Hour’ Mindset
Show up exactly as you are.
Rafa Sanfilippo / Unsplash Summer is officially here, bringing sunshine, ice cream dates, and beach trips. It’s a time to shed our wintertime blues and embrace the spirit of the season, putting our toes in the sand and letting go of the idea of perfection.
A woman says all girls should live in the moment this summer with a ‘no shower happy hour’ mindset.
“My rule for summer is that No Shower Happy Hour is a mindset,” she said. “It’s not an action.”
“Just go with it,” she said. “If your friends are texting you, don’t care what you look like. Don’t care what you’re wearing; if you’re in your bathing suit and you don’t have any makeup on, just go.”
“Have a feral summer,” she declared.
Brooke Cagle / Unsplash
We spend so much of our lives caught within the confines of other people’s expectations. There are dress codes at schools put in place to police young women's bodies. There are men who tell us to smile just because we dare to walk down the street.
From 9 to 5, Monday through Friday, we’re on the clock, beholden to our jobs, tapping out endless emails as we bask in the fluorescent glow of our laptops.
It’s no wonder so many of us spend the weekend bed rotting, trying to find some sense of balance or a way to recharge our energy.
Matheus G.O. / Unsplash
No Shower Happy Hour lets us do just that. We can take a shower some other day. We don’t have to care what we’re wearing. We don’t have to look or feel cute —we can show up, just as we are, in whatever outfit we’ve thrown on, with hair tangled and a smile.
‘No Shower Happy Hour is just whatever feels good in the moment,’ she declared.
“Have fun. Don’t put pressure on it,” she said. “Don’t be like, ‘Oh, but I have to go home and get ready and redo my makeup and wear a cute outfit.’ If you’re wearing what you’re wearing, go out; have fun. It’s just a mindset.”
Ditching the idea that we need to present a certain way gives us permission to love ourselves all the time.
True confidence is built from within, not off anyone else’s idea of how you should be. External validation only goes so far, and in the end, it’s a hollow form of recognition.
Shifting our mindset to care less isn’t necessarily easy. It takes practice to say to ourselves, “I love myself as I am, and I’m going out in my gym shorts.”
But we’re likely to find a certain freedom in No Shower Happy Hour, the kind that comes when we’re surrounded by friends, the sun is setting in that perfect rose gold glow, and the margarita we’re drinking has the perfect amount of salt on the rim, and we couldn’t actually ask for anything more.
Radical self-acceptance is a gift that keeps on giving. It allows us to accept our imperfections and find the beauty inherent in the messy lives we share with the people we love.
So, the next time your friend texts and invites you out, meet them without second-guessing yourself. Wear whatever makes you feel most like yourself. Say yes.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture, and all things to do with the entertainment industry.